Cookie Kisses
by FireStorm1991
Summary: One-shot: Takes place after the Androids and Cell Games. Vegeta reflects on his actions, his role in his son's and Bulma's life, and whether or not he is needed or should leave. More serious than both Gingerbread Kisses and Chocolate Kisses, but still with a "sweet" ending.


Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

I got a request from Jazz379705 in Chocolate Kisses, sequel to Gingerbread Kisses, to make another sequel, so I'm doing it for Father's Day. It's gonna start out kind of serious and angsty, but bear with me. Fluffiness will prevail :D This is going out to all the father's out there that don't emotionally torment their kids. Enjoy! ^_^

* * *

Vegeta watched as a tiny, lavender-haired baby was being fawned over by its grandmother. It was certainly a surprise to find that Bulma had been pregnant before he left for space. When he had come home before the androids attacked, he found her in the backyard rocking the sleeping boy. When Vegeta saw the tail, he knew.

Not only that, but he met their son from the future. He hadn't known how to act so he acted like he did when on Frieza's ship. He cared about no one and only looked out for himself. He knew he had hurt them, his woman and son. Was that why he felt so guilty? No, that wasn't why. It was another stupid Earth holiday.

What was the point of Fathers' Day, anyway? From what he had seen, only few people on the planet had decent fathers. Others just had fathers that abandoned them for periods of time. He and Kakarot were prime examples. The other Saiyan chose to stay dead and placed the responsibility if raising his second child on his harpy and the young half-breed. How was that good parenting?

How about himself and Trunks? He hadn't once held the baby or gone near him unless he had to; he made his future son feel less than worthy to be a Saiyan, at least until they fought cell; and he had barely said a word to the boy the day he left. He treated the woman poorly too. She didn't take that too well. In fact, ever since their future son left, she had barely paid him any mind. He refused to apologize, but he was frustrated that she wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn't using the GR either, because he lost his will to fight, so she didn't work on it anymore. He didn't even know why he was still here. His son didn't need him and the woman no longer cared, or so he thought. There was nothing tying him to the planet.

"Oh, Vegeta," the hyper blonde woman chirped once she noticed him staring. "We're having a picnic later. Bulma's in the kitchen. I know how much you love baking with her. She's making chocolate chip cookies."

He did enjoy baking with the woman, but would she allow it? What would he do if she denied him? Should he leave or stay? There were too many questions running through Vegeta's mind that he didn't even realize he had started walking to the kitchen.

* * *

He watched as the she stirred the batter and prepared to make her first tray of cookies. There was a heaviness in her motions. She seemed to be hurting, her liveliness from their previous encounters diminished by loneliness. She sighed in sadness and turned to return to her blueprints on the table. She froze when she saw Vegeta standing in the doorway and frowned. She placed her hands on her hips and scowled.

"Well, look who finally decided to show his face," she jeered at him. "I thought for sure you'd stay in your room for all eternity to avoid having any contact with the 'foolish woman who carried your brat.'"

Vegeta's resolve nearly broke, but he wouldn't let her know that. He forced himself to roll his eyes. "Get over it, woman."

She let out a disappointed laugh. "Get over it," she repeated wryly. "You know what, Vegeta? Why are you even still here? You made it clear that I mean nothing to you and you've barely even interacted with your son, our son. You told me you hated this planet and you're not here for me, so what is it? What is keeping you here?"

She truly didn't mean what she was saying, but she was just so hurt that Vegeta no longer wanted to spend time with her. Before he left for space, the two of them seemed inseparable. They would bake together and have arguments for fun. He even watched her work on the GR a majority of the time and the two of them had started a relationship. Then he left out of the blue, leaving Bulma to think she had done something to push him away. When she found out that she was pregnant, she didn't know whether to be happy and joyful or sad and scared. When the baby was born, all of that fear left her and was replaced with joy and love. When Vegeta returned, she hoped that he would be as happy as her little boy had made her. She had kept his tail intact as to not insult Vegeta and his Saiyan heritage. But the first words out of his mouth nearly killed her.

"_I don't care what you do with that thing, but it's an insult to the Saiyan race."_

After that, she removed Trunks' tail and started to raise him as a normal, human boy. She would catch Vegeta watching them at times with an unreadable look on his face. She would then turn her attention back to her son and coddle him. She never noticed the hurt that appeared on Vegeta's face when she turned away from him. She didn't know that it made him feel terrible that his rejection was the reason she cut off his tail, the only visible thing that displayed his true Saiyan heritage.

"I don't know," Vegeta finally replied. "I just don't w-"

Vegeta was cut off by the smoke alarm going off. The two turned to the oven and saw smoke coming out of it.

"Damn it!" Bulma shouted, again turning away from him. She got the trays out of the oven and growled when she saw they were burnt. She turned back to Vegeta with an angry expression. "Look, Vegeta, I'm busy right now. If you don't want to stay, then just go. I'm done with being tossed aside. I thought you were different than that, but I can see that I was wrong. Just leave me and my son alone. I can't handle being lied to anymore."

Vegeta replaced the hurt with a glare. "I don't care what you think about me, woman," he snarled, "but I never once lied to you. I will now allow you to use something I didn't do against me."

"Oh really, you didn't lie?" Bulma asked in disbelief. "You told me you cared, not in those words, but that's what you said. You told me that night that you finally had another reason to defeat the androids. Then you disappeared and came back and told me that our child was a disgrace to what's left of your race. Then you treated me the same way you did when you first came here. I was nothing more than a servant to you."

"I never said that about you," he spat.

"You might as well have!" Bulma's voice rang through the kitchen. "You, oh mighty Prince of Saiyans, nearly let an android kill us. Our presence has been nothing more than an 'inconvenience' for you, your words not mine. If you're not going to leave, maybe I'll take Trunks and leave here until you can get over your damn arrogance. You know what, I'm done baking. I'm done with all of this."

Bulma was about to storm out of the kitchen, but Vegeta grabbed her arm. She shot him an aggravated glare, but her rage subsided when she saw the lost look in his eyes. "I will go," Vegeta surrendered. "If you truly hate me, then I have nothing left anyway, no family and no home. You shouldn't be forced out of your own home or away from your family. I'll be gone by tonight."

Vegeta reluctantly let go of her and started to leave the room. Bulma let out a sigh of defeat. "Vegeta…" He paused in his retreat and waited. "I could use some help in here."

Vegeta perked up a bit and then smirked like his old, arrogant self. "It's on, woman."

* * *

Bulma finally felt some of the tension in the air dissipate and took out more baking supplies. Vegeta walked over to the stoves and got ready for an explanation. It never came.

"Woman, what am I supposed to do with this stuff?" he growled.

Bulma smirked at him. "I'm sure you'd be able to figure it out. Didn't you bake a lot when you were younger?"

Vegeta tensed. When he told her that…it had been so long ago, the first time they baked. It was the first fact about his personal life that he had shared with anyone and she never judged him for it.

"This was a mistake," Vegeta stated hoarsely. "I'll let you handle things and-"

Before he knew it, his nose had cookie batter on it that Bulma had smeared on him with her finger. She smiled and licked the remaining batter off her finger. "Jeez, you're so tense. Lighten up, would you. Today's your day after all."

"What?" Vegeta asked in confusion.

Bulma just smiled. "Happy Fathers' Day, Vegeta."

Before Vegeta could response, Bulma kissed his nose and licked the batter off. "Hm, needs more sugar," she stated. Vegeta smirked at her and handed her the bag of sugar.

* * *

Everyone had come for the picnic, but Bulma and Vegeta had yet to make an appearance. Everyone elected Yamucha to go and find the estranged couple. Bulma's mother had said that Bulma had been baking cookies. He had the feeling that Vegeta would be with her.

Yamucha paused at the door as he overheard another conversation he wished he hadn't.

"Vegeta, it's too much," Bulma whined.

"Woman, it is not my fault that you covered it," Vegeta replied. "Besides, it's your fault for grabbing it too hard."

"But it tastes too sweet," she continued with her complaints.

"I'm not going to jump to conclusions," Yamucha whispered to himself while pushing the door opened. He saw Bulma and Vegeta looking down at a bowl with a ton of sugar piled in the batter.

"Well, there goes the desert," Bulma said with a smile. "Whatever, I'm hungry. Let's go eat."

"Smartest thing you've said all day."

"Eh-hem," Yamucha coughed causing both Bulma and Vegeta to look over to him. "Your mom sent me to come get you two."

"Great, we'll be out in a minute," Bulma told him.

"Both of you?" Yamucha asked with a raised brow.

Vegeta growled and Bulma glared at her ex. "Yes, both of us. Vegeta is a father, so why wouldn't he celebrate with us?"

"He may be Trunks' father, and even though he went crazy on Cell for Trunks' death, he hasn't expressed any interest in his present life. He's not good enough to be his father."

"Yamucha, get the hell out of my kitchen," Bulma snapped. "And watch what you say. Something stupid always seems to come out of your mouth."

"Whatever."

After Yamucha walked out, Bulma looked to Vegeta to gage his reaction at Yamucha's insult. She could tell he was hurt, and then it hit her. Vegeta had locked himself in his room after their son returned to his time line. She never really saw him since that day and even then he seemed so distant. Maybe he wasn't avoiding her or their son because of his arrogance. Perhaps he was afraid he would mess something up. Gohan had told her about his apology on the battlefield when they fought against Cell. She knew he had been the one to let the monster absorb Androids 17 and 18 so it would transform. He knew that if it weren't for his arrogance, Goku would still be alive their future son wouldn't have gotten killed. It nearly crushed her when she realized that Vegeta was afraid to be a father.

She gently took his hand and said, "Come on; let's go see our son."

Vegeta shook his head. "I should go. The weakling was right for once. I'm a terrible father. I'm just as bad as mine."

Bulma sighed and shook her head. "You're wrong about that, Vegeta. You may be rough around the edges, but you are a good father. If you weren't, you would have left here a long time ago. Just be here for him. That's all you have to do. Let me worry about the rest, and, when you feel more comfortable about yourself, you can jump in whenever you want. Just, please stay. That's all I'm asking for."

Vegeta's face betrayed no emotion, but Bulma could see the intensity of what he was feeling in his eyes, the window to his soul. "You…you don't want me to leave?" Vegeta asked in surprise.

"I never wanted you to leave," Bulma admitted. "I thought you just didn't want to be here and I didn't want to be the reason you were unhappy."

Vegeta scoffed. "I don't know anything else, woman."

Bulma flashed him a sad, yet understanding smile. "Then give it a chance. Like I said when you first came here, lighten up and see what the world has to offer you. Anyway, I'm going to go spend time with our son. You can join me if you want."

Vegeta didn't respond, but only because he didn't know what he wanted. Bulma just nodded to him and left the kitchen. Vegeta then said what he wanted to say to her before they started baking. "I just don't want to lose you and our brat."

* * *

Vegeta looked back over to the mess. He thought about the woman's words more. She said he was a good father, but he didn't know if he could believe that. He tasted that sugary batter and scrunched his face up in disgust. He shrugged off the sweetness and decided to follow the woman's example and get some food and settle his hunger.

When he showed his face, everyone but Bulma, her family, and Trunks looked wary. Vegeta nearly gasped when he felt a tiny hand on his leg. He looked down to see his little boy grinning up at him.

"Daddy!" the little Saiyan cooed happily.

Something inside Vegeta melted at that. He looked over to Bulma who smiled and nodded at him. Vegeta knelt down and rubbed the little boy's head, causing the tiny Saiyan prince to giggle and the older one to smirk in satisfaction. Maybe he would stick around, to be a good father and to spend time with his woman. Perhaps these Earth holidays had some merit. The woman may have been right about them. They did have the power to bring people closer.

* * *

A/N: So, a little different from the other two, but equally fun to write. I liked writing the part with baby Trunks the most :D I don't think I'll write another baking one-shot…only because I'm running out of things to bake XD


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